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Christina Rossetti - A Daughter Of Eve

A fool I was to sleep at noon,
And wake when night is chilly
Beneath the comfortless cold moon;
A fool to pluck my rose too soon,
A fool to snap my lily.

My garden-plot I have not kept;
Faded and all-forsaken,
I weep as I have never wept:
Oh it was summer when I slept,
It's winter now I waken.

Talk what you please of future spring
And sun-warm'd sweet to-morrow:--
Stripp'd bare of hope and everything,
No more to laugh, no more to sing,
I sit alone with sorrow.

Added: on April 19th, 2005 at 7:58 AM | Viewed: 2026 times | Comments (2)


A Daughter Of Eve - Comments and Information

Poet: Christina Rossetti
Poem: A Daughter Of Eve
Volume: Poems
Year: Published/Written in 1890

Comment 2 of 2, added on June 8th, 2006 at 7:47 PM.

I also believe that the plucking of a rose, snapping of a lily could be metaphors for loosing one's virginity. The persona is obviously regretting what has happened, not only due to the fact she speaks of crying "I weep as I have never wept", but, also because she compares herself to delicate, pretty things-and then speaks of them being ruined, a lily is snapped-killed the Rose plucked, and soon after flowers are plucked, if they are not cared for they die. When Rossetti wrote: "
My garden-plot I have not kept;
Faded and all-forsaken," i think she was collectively putting all these euphamisms into one bundle, to express how the whole thing has become alot bigger than one single flower in the persona's mind. In her oppinion, she has ruined her body, her mind, her soul, and no doubt her reputation, she has lost her self worth.

Katie*minx* from United Kingdom
Comment 1 of 2, added on April 19th, 2005 at 7:58 AM.

is the refence to plucking a rose a metaphor for loss of virginity, is this poem an exploration of the loss of young love, is the metaphorical sleep a way of suggesting that innocence and naivety prevented her from appreciating the true experiences of life?

suz

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